


Moonchild

by Tokyo_the_Glaive



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/F, First Meetings, Fluff, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-14
Updated: 2016-09-14
Packaged: 2018-08-15 00:45:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8035663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tokyo_the_Glaive/pseuds/Tokyo_the_Glaive
Summary: When Hinoka meets Setsuna for the first time, it's an accident. Setsuna's a strange girl, out alone in the gardens away from the banquet. Hinoka likes her.(Or, the one where Hinoka hears a strange noise and follows it to Setsuna.)





	Moonchild

Hinoka happens across Setsuna entirely by accident after she sneaks out of the banquet to catch a bit of fresh air. She’s eleven—still smarting from the loss of—of— Hinoka can’t even say the name, it hurts so badly. She’s _hurting_.

The people inside don’t understand. Or, Lady Mikoto— _Mother_ , Hinoka thinks; she’s supposed to call her _Mother_ , that’s what Father said—she understands. She saw Hinoka slip out and offered a smile that promised a good hug and lots of snuggles later. Hinoka thinks she’s going to need them when all of the nobles go away.

And there are so many of them! Hinoka knows that Hoshido is Big (with a capital B) but she had no idea there were so many others like her.

(“Not like you,” Mik— _Mother_ had said. “You’re the Princess of Hoshido.

“But you said they’re nobles,” Hinoka had replied, confused.

“They’re not princes or princesses,” Mother explained, “but they’re not commoners, either.”

“What makes them special?”

“Birthright, just the same as you.”

Hinoka had frowned at that. Something about it bothered her, but she was too young to put it into words.)

No matter their rank, there were lots of them back inside, and all of them had seemingly wanted Hinoka’s attention: _you should meet my son_ , said one; _my daughter’s just your age! You would be great friends_ , said another, and so on and so forth. It was _endless_. Hinoka wanted to follow Takumi’s lead just once—for a younger brother, he had the right idea when it came to banquets and stuff—and sneak away altogether.

She tells herself that she’ll go back inside in just a few moments. It’s nearly dark out, and the bugs are chirping in the bushes. Lightning bugs flash in the growing night, dancing around each other, and the air is still and hot. Hinoka wipes her forehead on her sleeve. She wants to go to bed.

A low humming noise, eerie and resonant, reaches her ears, and it’s such a sound that Hinoka thinks she’s dreamed it up. It’s nothing she’s ever heard before; there’s something discordant about it, as if the air around the notes has twisted and soured—it’s an uncomfortable sound at the very least.

There’s something else in it, too: Hinoka feels the strangest urge to follow the sounds.

She glances back just once at the banquet. Inside, the party is still going. No doubt Mi—Mother will expect her back soon, but she couldn’t be blamed for going for a short walk. _Taking the night air_ , that’s what the ladies inside all said they do. _For the health_.

If anyone asks, Hinoka will say she was feeling _unhealthy_ and so she _took the night air_. Whatever that means.

Now, she hikes up her skirts, steps over the low balcony, and starts to trudge through the ankle-high grass. It’s dry, at least, so she won’t ruin her shoes, but she remembers all too late that her shoes are designed to be worn _inside_ only; their soles are thin and flimsy, and she can feel every rock underfoot as she takes each subsequent step.

No turning back, though. That sound hasn’t stopped, though the notes—if notes could be ascribed to the noise Hinoka’s following—cascade up and down. Hinoka’s mind conjures wild scenarios. Maybe it’s a Nohrian invasion and this is their battlecry. It’s certainly frightening enough, not that she’d ever be afraid if she faced a Nohrian in combat. She’d _slice_ and _whip_ and _stab_ and win! Not afraid at all. Maybe it’s one of the tribes—she’s heard from servants around the palace that they’re all _savages_. That’s the word they use: _savages_. Hinoka sounded it out in her room, once. It felt awkward and bad on her tongue. She hasn’t been able to get up the courage to ask M- _Mother_ if that’s what they really are or not, but she knows they use different kinds of magic. Perhaps this is a chant?

It’s none of those things, Hinoka finds. None of her scenarios are nearly outlandish enough.

Just beyond the courtyard and out in the gardens, there’s a girl—about her own age, Hinoka thinks—sitting on the ground. Even in the fading light, it’s clear that she’s the one responsible for the noise. Her eyes are shut, and the last rays of sunlight catch on her blue hair.

An enormous deer startles at the sight of Hinoka and flees.

“Oh,” the girl says. She opens her eyes. They’re just as blue, Hinoka thinks. It’s rare—she’s just learned that word, too: _rare,_ not happening often, uncommon. _Rare_.

“Hello,” Hinoka says. “Who are you?”

The girl doesn’t answer directly. “The deer ran away,” she says, shutting her eyes. She pouts. “I wonder why they never come closer…?”

Hinoka knows the girl’s seen her. She’s never had anyone not address her before.

“Hello,” Hinoka tries again.

This time, the girl opens her eyes and looks back to Hinoka. “Oh,” she says again. “Hi.”

“I’m Hinoka,” Hinoka says. She’s never had to introduce herself, either. When Mother does it, she has a whole long thing— _Princess of Hoshido_ and a bunch of other things that Hinoka can never get perfectly right. She stammers a little. She saw a servant laugh at it, once, and it made her feel bad. She doesn’t talk so much, now.

“Hinoka?” the girl asks. “I know that name. Momma said I was supposed to meet someone named Hinoka, but there were too many people inside so I ran away. Are you her?”

Hinoka shrugs. “Probably,” she says. “Can I sit with you? There’s too many people inside for me, too.”

The girl nods, and Hinoka comes to sit at her side. She realizes—again, too late, that she’s getting ready to sit on the ground in white skirts—but once it’s done, it’s done. Hinoka figures she’ll just have to walk around with dirt on her. Worse things have happened.

“What’s your name?” Hinoka asks the girl.

“I’m Setsuna,” the girl says. She brushes hair out of her eyes, only for it to fall right back into place. Hinoka notices that she’s kicked off her shoes and has wriggled her toes into the dirt. It makes her laugh a little, and Setsuna asks, “What?”

“Nothing,” Hinoka says. It’s rude to laugh at other people, that’s what Ryoma says. (Mother’s never said so much, but if Ryoma says it, it’s probably right. He’s always right, and it makes Hinoka a little mad.) “I’m glad I found you.”

“Me, too,” Setsuna says. “I don’t know how to get home.”

“What?”

“I get lost, sometimes,” Setsuna says, as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. “I start to daydream, and then I wander off…”

Hinoka says, “That’s bad!”

Setsuna just shrugs. “I dunno,” she says. “Find some fun things that way.”

Hinoka hadn’t thought about it that way. Setsuna’s probably right about that. Hinoka hasn’t found anything interesting in a long time—not until Setsuna, actually.

“That noise from earlier,” Hinoka says.

“Hm?”

“Yeah, that humming, like—” Hinoka breaks off in a poor impression of the sound.

Setsuna nods. “This?” she asks. She hums, and it’s so close and so strange that Hinoka shivers. This close, she wants to run, she wants to hide in Mother’s skirts and never come out and— “That noise?”

“Y-yes,” Hinoka stammers. She waits for Setsuna to mock her, but she doesn’t.

“It makes animals come closer,” Setsuna says. “They never get too close, though. I don’t know why.”

“Oh,” Hinoka says. She’s still shaking, and she doesn’t think to ask why Setsuna would be humming for animals now, when the stars are winking overhead and the bugs are louder than before.

There’s something else, too. People?

“Setsuna?” A woman’s voice—or, a high voice. Mother tells Hinoka she shouldn’t make assumptions. “Setsuna?!”

“Who’s that?” Hinoka asks. Setsuna’s face is hard to see in the dark, but she’s frowning pretty clearly.

“Mother,” Setsuna says. Her tone is— _bad_ , Hinoka thinks. Like a snake. It’s not angry—it occurs to Hinoka that Setsuna doesn’t seem particularly _anything_ in the way of emotions—but there’s something off about it. “I don’t want to go,” Setsuna says.

Hinoka’s never not answered Mik— _Mother_ ’s call, never not answered Mother-Mother’s call, either.

A woman bursts into the gardens flanked by men with lanterns. By their light, Hinoka could see a noble seal—one of the visitors, she thought. She’d seen it inside, anyway.

“Setsuna—oh! Lady Hinoka!” the woman cries upon seeing the pair of them. She drops into a low bow, and Hinoka flushes and looks away. No matter how many times people bow to her, she can’t get used to it. She doesn’t like it, but once again, she’s not sure why. “Thank you for locating my wayward daughter—she’s spoilt rotten and wanders off by herself. You have my undying gratitude.”

Hinoka wants to melt into the ground, and maybe tell the woman that Hinoka didn’t find Setsuna on purpose, but her mind is running fast enough that if she speaks, she’s going to stutter, so she doesn’t say anything at all. The woman grasps Setsuna by the arm—none too gently, either—and pulls her to her feet.

“What do you say, Setsuna?” the woman says through her teeth. There it iss again, that same tone—flat, but _angry, bad_.

Setsuna looks up at the woman—she doesn’t look like Setsuna’s mother, so maybe she’s a caretaker, or like Mikoto? Setsuna looks up at her with a perfectly blank face, then turns her attention back to Hinoka.

She smiles at Hinoka. Hinoka smiles back.

“Thanks, Hinoka,” Setsuna says.

The woman smacks Setsuna hard. “ _Lady_ Hinoka,” she says. “Again.”

“No,” Hinoka says. Everyone except for Setsuna goes still. “It was nice to meet you, Setsuna.”

Setsuna’s smile turns into a grin.

 

(Later, when Setsuna is sworn in as Hinoka’s retainer, she’ll grin up at Hinoka. It’s a blatant breach of protocol, but Hinoka can’t help it: she grins right back. It’s a good day.)


End file.
